Court defines scope of U.S.S.G. §2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(i) - unlawfully using a means of identification to produce another means of identification

In United States v. Newsome, Appeal No. 04-3292 (3d Cir. 3/9/06), the Third Circuit defined the scope of the U.S.S.G. §2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(i) - a two level enhancement for "the unauthorized transfer or use of any means of identification unlawfully to produce or obtain any other means of identification." Newsome used the personal contact information and account information of bank customers to produce fake driver's licenses, employee identification cards, and pre-printed withdrawal slips. At sentencing, he contended that the enhancement should not apply because the new physical documentation contained the same means of identification - i.e. names, dates of birth, account numbers, etc. - as the existing means of identification used to create the new physical documentation.

The Third Circuit concluded that the enhancement could not be construed so narrowly. The new means of identification did not have to be "different," it just needed to be "additional." Accordingly, the Court ruled that when a means of identification is illegally used to produce an altered duplicate means of identification, the §2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(i) enhancement applies.